1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a roller track for transporting stored goods, with a profile rail having a base and two side walls extending at an angle relative to the base, the side walls of which are formed such that they are prone to pivot onto each other under the influence of a force directed toward the base, multiple roller bodies that are rotatably supported about rotating axles in bearing openings of the side walls, and means for securing the positions of the rotating axles in the bearing openings. A further subject matter of the invention is a method for producing such a roller track.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of roller tracks as transport and/or storage means is common in storage and order-picking technology both in the form of individual roller tracks and as part of larger live storage racks. Known roller tracks usually consist of a channel-shaped, sheet metal-bent profile rail at the side walls of which multiple roller bodies are supported in a freely rotatable manner and arranged one after the other in the longitudinal direction of the profile rail. The stored goods to be transported can be placed onto the roller bodies from the feed side and, due to the inclination of the roller track, be transported along the profile rails under the influence of gravity in the direction toward the discharge or picking side. The roller tracks can be used in a pairwise arrangement, so that one side of the stored good to be transported lies on a first roller track and the other side of the stored good lies on a second roller track. The stored goods are mostly packaged goods or standardized pallets, containers, stacking boxes, transport boxes, cartons, single packages, etc.
Many roller tracks have a rigid profile rail with a base and two side walls extending at a right angle relative to the base, the side walls being provided with the bearing openings for the rotating axles of the roller bodies. To secure the rotating axles in their positions on the profile rail, additional securing elements, such as nuts, holding clips, bolt, etc., are often used, resulting in a construction that requires many component parts and involves great assembling effort in particular for a large number of roller bodies.
Furthermore, constructions are known in which the side walls of the profile rails are inclined obliquely toward the center of the profile rail at least in some parts. Such a construction is known from the Korean utility model 2002 15858. Through bores extending transversely to the side walls serve as bearing openings into which the rotating axles are inserted from the side in a direction transversely to the side walls. To axially secure the rotating axles, the upper free ends of the side walls are shaped such that an abutment surface lying axially behind the free end of the rotating axle is formed by a kind of multiple folding, said abutment surface preventing the rotating axle from slipping out of the bearing openings.
Such roller tracks can do without additional securing elements for securing the positions of the rotating axles in the holding openings, however, they have the disadvantage that the insertion of the rotating axles into the bearing bores is comparatively complex due to the bearing openings being formed as bores and extending transversely to the side walls. First of all, the side walls need to be straddled, so that the distance between the side walls is sufficient to insert the rotating axle into the space between the side walls. Only after the distance of the side walls and thus of the bearing openings is larger than the length of the rotating axle can be roller body, together with the rotating axle, be brought to a position between the two bearing bores toward the base of the profile rail from above. In this position, the rotating axle is to be held in a manner aligned with the bearing openings that extend transversely to the side walls, whereupon straddling of the side walls can be reversed and the ends of the rotating axle enter the bearing opening.
Based on such a prior art, it is an object of the invention to provide a roller track and a method of producing a roller track, which distinguish themselves by a simple assembly of the roller bodies.